Tome Series - Character Creation Thread!

[Shokatsuryou]

In the fine tradition of threads like Oberoni's This Cheese is Delicious thread or the Cheese Updates, 3.5 thread on these boards, I have started a thread for people to post character ideas for Frank and K's "Tome" series (Tome of Necromancy, Tome of Fiends, Dungeonomicon, etc.).

Unlike those previous threads, please feel free to post non-cheesy characters if you want! Any character level is fine. (In fact, I'd like to see at least one character of every level from 1-20.)

The purpose of this thread is to give people a feel for what Tomes characters look like and to provide inspiration for the creation of your own characters. It will also be a good way to see if something looks unbalanced or to make sure we understand the rules as written.

Note that as additional Tomes are released (Tome of Gears, Tome of Tiamat, etc), the information contained below may be subject to change.

I'll starts with the first character I made after reading the books that are available right now. This is not a cheesy character, but rather a look at what a typical Dungeonomicon Monk might look like.

Sources Used: PHB, DMG, MM, Dungeonomicon, Races of War

Hana Tenryu
Human Monk 7
Medium Humanoid - HD 7d8 + 14, Hit Points 49
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Speed: 30 ft.
Initiative: +4
Armor Class: 22 (7 armored in life, 4 wisdom, 1 enhancement)
Strength 16+2, Dexterity 12, Constitution 14, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 16+2, Charisma 8 (32 point buy)
Balance +13, Jump +16, Listen +14, Sense Motive +14, Spot +19, Tumble +13
Attacks: Slam +13/+8 melee (1d8+8 and Daze (Fort DC 17))
Special Actions: Fatal Strike, Fighting Style(x4), Walk of a Thousand Steps
Special Qualities: Armored in Life, Willow Step, Rain of Flowers, Abundant Leap, Diamond Soul (SR 12)
Saves: Fort: +9, Reflex +11, Will +11
Feats: Blind Fighting, Combat School ("Heavenly Dragon Style" - slam, nunchaku, staff), Danger Sense, Horde Breaker
Notable Items: periapt of wisdom +2, handwraps of strength +2 (gauntlets of ogre power, just renamed), cloak of resistance +2, +1 vestments of light fortification (just normal clothes with enhancements), eyes of the eagle, masterwork shuriken (5), 200gp

Fighting Styles:
* Enlightened Turtle Stance: +4 Dodge AC, + 4 Dodge Saves
* Swift Monkey Dance: +30' Insight movement, +4 Dodge Saves
* Angry Dragon Fist: Slam attack ignores hardness and DR, Slam attack forces any opponent struck to be stunned for one round (Fort DC 17)
* Drunken Serpent Fu: Hana may make an attack of opportunity against any opponent who attacks her. This attack of opportunity must be a trip or disarm attempt. Slam attack inflicts piercing damage and 2 points of Constitution damage.

(32 point buy)
Str 15 (base) +1 (levels) = 16 (+3), +2 (enhance) = 18 (+4)
Dex 12 (base) = 12 (+1)
Con 14 (base) = 14 (+2)
Int 12 (base) = 12 (+1)
Wis 16 (base) = 16 (+3), +2 (enhance) = 18 (+4)
Cha 8 (base) = 8 (-1)

AC 22, Touch 22, Flat 22 (+7 armored in life +1 enhancement +4 wis)
Init +4
BAB +7, Grap +11
Fort +9 (5 base +2 con +2 resistance)
Ref +11 (5 base +4 wis +2 resistance)
Will +11 (5 base +4 wis +2 resistance)

Slam: +13/+8 melee, 1d8+8, x2, plus Daze (Fort DC 17)

+13 Balance (10 ranks +1 dex +2 synergy(tumble))
+16 Jump (10 ranks +4 str +2 synergy(tumble))
+14 Listen (10 ranks +4 wis)
+14 Sense Motive (10 ranks +4 wis)
+19 Spot (10 ranks + 4 wis + 5 comp)
+13 Tumble (10 ranks +1 dex +2 synergy(jump))


Very Short Bio: Hana Tenryu is the heir to an ancient order of martial arts known as the Heavenly Dragon School. While diligent in her training, she is still young and does not fully appreciate her destiny. Her fighting style in unorthodox for her School, and she loves to create new and strange techniques with funny names.

Basic Tactics: When adventuring, Hana acts as the eyes and ears of the party with her high Wisdom, Blind Fighting, and Danger Sense feats. She defaults to Enlightened Turtle Stance when walking around (especially if alone). However, she quickly switches to an offensive style when trouble breaks out - usually her favorite, Drunken Serpent Fu. Swift Monkey Dance is used to maneuver quickly on the battlefield, for scouting situations, or simply when she oversleeps and is late for training. In tough situations she will use Angry Dragon Fist (and often Walk of a Thousand steps with another style) to control the battlefield with daze and stun attacks. With stuns, dazes, and the ability to switch to nonlethal damage, she excels at taking a foe alive if desired.

Well, that should get the ball rolling. I will post my Samurai next. I look forward to seeing some of your ideas. (I'd really like to see a cheesed-out fighter to see if it is nearly as unbalanced as the folks at WotC make it out to be.)

[Shokatsuryou]

Ok here is my Samurai. This character is a little bit cheesier than my Monk, but still well within the realm of playability.

Sources Used: PHB, DMG, MM, Races of War, Dungeonomicon, Tome of Fiends, Tome of Trees (excerpt)

Lady Keiko Umiyama
Human Samurai 12
Medium Humanoid - HD 12d8 + 60, Hit Points 118
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Speed: 40 ft., Fly 60 ft. (Good)
Initiative: +16
Armor Class: 33 (6 armored in life, 9 dexterity, 3 enhancement, 2 deflection, 2 natural, 1 insight)
Strength 15, Dexterity 24+4, Constitution 20, Intelligence 20, Wisdom 16, Charisma 18 (stats rolled 4d6)*
Balance +27, Diplomacy +30, Escape Artist +24, Hide +19, Knowledge (royaly & nobility) +10, Listen +19, Sense Motive +19, Spot +19, Tumble +24
Attacks: Ancestial Weapon +27/+22/+22 melee (1d10+20, 15-20/x3, plus Daze (Fort DC 18) and wounding), or Slam +23/+18/+18 melee (1d8+16, plus Daze (Fort DC 18) and wounding), or +1 composite longbow [+2 Str bonus] of frost +23/+18/+18 ranged (1d8+4, x3, +1d6+1 frost, plus wounding)
Special Actions: Kiai!(8/day), Terrible Blows, Iaijutsu, Blade of Devastation, Iaijutsu Focus; disguise self (at will)
Special Qualities: Ancestial Weapon, Pledge of Loyalty (Lord Kyodo), Ancestial Guidance, Parry Magic, Cut Magic; darkvision 60', immune to detect thoughts, discern lies, and attempts to discern alignment.
Saves: Fort: +13, Reflex +20, Will +15
Feats: Blind Fighting, Combat School ("Himitsu no Ken" - katana, wakizashi, slam), Command, Danger Sense, Horde Breaker, Insightful Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Subtle Cut, Weapon Finesse, Whirlwind
Background: Apprenticed (Lord Kyodo)
Notable Major Items: gloves of dexterity +4, wings of flying, stone of good luck
Notable minor items: vest of resistance +3, magic clothing +3, ring of mind shielding, ring of chameleon power, boots of springing and striding, lesser bracers of archery, circlet of persuasion, dusty rose prism ioun stone, goggles of night, monk's belt, amulet of natural armor +2, quiver of Ehlonna, Heward's handy haversack(contains - cape of the montebank, ring of protection +2, clear spindle ioun stone, +3 medium red dragonscale armor); 8000gp
Weapons: +1 adamantine keen katana(Ancestial Weapon makes it +4 enhancement and ghost touch), +2 adamantine wakizashi (mainly for ceremonial purposes), +1 darkwood composite longbow of frost [+2 Str bonus]

* Lady Umiyama's cohort is a level 10 fey-touched Summoner. (Stat block in a post below.) The important thing to note is that this character makes full use of the wish-based economy. All of her stats have +5 Inherent bonuses, and she has many items worth 15,000gp or less.

(Abilities rolled randomly on 4d6)

Str 10 (base) +5 (inherent) = 15 (+2)
Dex 16 (base) +3 (levels) +5 (inherent) = 24 (+7), +4 (enhance) = 28 (+9)
Con 15 (base) + 5 (inherent) = 20 (+5)
Int 15 (base) +5 (inherent) = 20 (+5)
Wis 11 (base) +5 (inherent) = 16 (+3)
Cha 13 (base) +5 (inherent) = 18 (+4)


AC 33, Touch 31, Flat 33 (+6 armored in life +3 enhancement +9 dexterity +2 deflection +2 natural +1 insight)
Init +16 (+9 dex +6 feats +1 luck)
BAB +12, Grap +14
Speed 40 ft. (30 base +10 enhancement), Fly 60 ft. (Good)
Fort +13 (4 base +5 con +3 resistance +1 luck)
Ref +20 (4 base +9 dex +3 feat +3 resistance +1 luck)
Will +15 (8 base +3 wis +3 resistance +1 luck)

Ancestial Weapon(+4 keen ghost touch wounding katana): +27/+22/+22 melee, 1d10+20, 15-20/x3, plus Daze (Fort DC 18) and wounding
Slam: +23/+18/+18 melee, 1d8+16, plus Daze (Fort DC 18) and wounding
+1 composite longbow [+2 Str bonus] of frost: +23/+18/+18 ranged, 1d8+4, x3, +1d6+1 frost, plus wounding

Skills
+27 Balance (15 ranks +9 dex +2 synergy(tumble) +1 luck)
+30 Diplomacy (15 ranks +4 cha +3 magic clothing +3 comp +2 synergy(knowledge) +2 synergy(sense motive) +1 luck)
+24 Escape Artist (14 ranks +9 dex +1 luck)
+19 Hide (+9 dex, +10 comp)
+10 Knowledge, royaly & nobility (5 ranks +4 cha +1 luck)
+19 Listen (15 ranks +3 wis +1 luck)
+19 Sense Motive (15 ranks +3 wis +1 luck)
+19 Spot (15 ranks +3 wis +1 luck)
+24 Tumble (14 ranks +9 dex +1 luck)


Keiko Umiyama is a semi-major villain in a campaign featuring the monk in my post above. She has dozens of followers, a formidable cohort (who summons lots of creatures), oh, and she is also a badass in her own right.

Basic Tactics: Lady Umiyama is calculating and severely paranoid. "Politics" is the southern feudal kingdoms usually involve open assassination attempts, so she has honed her reflexes and senses to the maximum. She regularly used her magic rings to keep a low profile, regularly traveling in simple disguises. She rarely gets involved directly, preferring to delegate to her many followers or cohort for simple matters or requesting aid from the Grand Lord Kyodo in truly dire situations. Keiko Umiyama never enters battle unless she is already sure of victory.
If she enters combat, one should first note that Keiko has 12 Attacks of Opportunity every round. She has no problem using Iaijustu Focus to spend any or all of those AoOs as a immediate action to cut her foes to ribbons. She has the Edge against any opponent with less than BAB 12 or Dexterity less than 28 (so, pretty much all the time). Against many weaker foes, Kiai! + Power Attack + Whirlwind + Horde Breaker combos tend to do the job nicely (or she'll just let her Summoner cohort deal with them). She has no problem slowing picking off non-fliers with her bow as appropriate. Ranged Subtle Cut attacks will quickly drop low-Dexterity enemies - especially very large creatures that might otherwise give her problems.

I'd write more, but I'm starting to get tired. Next up is Keiko's cohort.

-Sho

edit - added detailed skill and stat breakdowns for Hana and Keiko.

[Dragon_Child]

I had to join in on the fun... here's an NPC from my homebrew (homebrew ECL +1 race, but he gets an HD from it). He was built on 34 point buy with standard PC gold.

One thing that maybe Frank or K could clear up... how does Two-Weapon Fighting work with Iaijutsu, Whirlwind, and Cleave?

Torora
Male Tengaradu Samurai 10 (Total ECL: 11)
Lawful Neutral

Str 14 +2
Dex 24 +7 28 +9
Con 14 +2 16 +3
Int 14 +2
Wis 10 +0
Cha 8 -1

Hit Points 96
AC 24, Touch 20, Flat 15 (+3 armor +9 dex +1 protection +2 shield)
Init +9
BAB +11, Grap +13
Speed 30 ft, fly 40 ft (good)
Fort +9 (3 base +3 con +3 resistance)
Ref +17 (5 base +9 dex +3 resistance)
Will +11 (8 base +0 wis +3 resistance)

Main Hand: +24/+19/+19 1d6+14 +1d6 elec +1 con 19-20/x2
Off Hand: +22/+17/+17 1d6+12 +1d6 elec +1 con 19-20/x2

+22 Hide (13 ranks + 9 dex)
+22 Move Silently (13 ranks + 9 dex)
+4 Knowledge:Nobility and Royalty (2 rank + 2 int)
+14 Sense Motive (14 ranks)
+23 Tumble (14 ranks + 9 dex)
+14 Listen (14 ranks)
+15 Spot (6 ranks +5 competence + 4 racial)

Feats
-Bonus Feats: Blindfighting, Horde Breaker, Subtle Cut, Whirlwind Attack
-Selected Feats: Combat School, Danger Sense, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finess

Tengaradu Traits
-Darkvision 60 ft
-+4 spot
-Electricity resistance 3
-+2 saves against electricity and wind effects
--2 saves against acid and earth effects

Samurai Abilities
-Ancestral Weaponry (Short Sword, counts as +3 has x2 HP, +10 Hardness, Ghost Touch)
-Pledge of Loyalty (cannot be forced to act against the Empress)
-Kiai! (can turn a successful hit into a crit 7/day)
-Ancestral Guidance (Commune 1/day, Speak With Dead 1/day)
-Terrible Blows (Ancestral Weapon bypass DR and ignores hardness)
-Iaijutsu (AoO as an immediate action against anyone he has the Edge against)
-Parry Magic (Can make an AoO against a spell targeted against him, attack roll vs DC to dispel)
-Blade of Devastation

Possessions: Two +1 Shocking Shortswords, Bracers of Armor +3, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Health +2, Cloak of Resistance +3, Eyes of the Eagle


Torora is a Tengaradu samurai of Talavirr, one of the two personal bodyguards of the young Empress. His Ancestral Weapon is a shortsword given to him by the Empress when he was elected to the position of bodyguard. He cherishes the sword, considering it his most valuable possession. He truely cares for the Empress, prehaps quite a bit more than a bodyguard should, and would do anything to serve her.

Against multiple enemies, Torora prefers to wait and let them come to him. Activating Whirlwind Attack, he'll get to attack at anyone who approaches him in melee with both swords - averaging 40 points of damage, if both hit! If he slays a lesser creature, he'll be able to cleave into their allies, scare them off, and take 5' steps to position himself for the second turn - he'll use Whirlwind Attack and his 40 ft fly speed to zip through the battlefield, slashing at every enemy along his path. No horde of goblins can stop Torora.

Torora prefers to defeat single opponents through skill rather than brute strength. With his 28 dexterity, +11 BAB, and Weapon Finess, he nearly always has the edge. If he's fighting a creature with both more BAB and dexterity than him... well, he's likely screwed, but not without his options. Against a more skilled opponent, he'll start the battle with Subtle Cut, lowering his opponent's dexerity by 2d4, then proceed with combat as normal. Against a single, tough opponent, he'll try to begin by entering attacking range, than attack his opponent with a flurry of disarm and trip attempts. If he can leave his foe weaponless and prone, he'll have a major advantage in the next round. While his enemy scrambles to recover, Torora will tear into him with six attacks, making the first a critical with Kiai! With the capability of dealing 140 average damage and 6 con damage a round, enemies will have to do something fast or be torn to bits - and with each attack provoking a DC 17 fortitude save vs Daze (which become increasingly harder, due to the con damage), they likely won't last long. Ripping apart mages is easy for him: targeted spells are nearly always blocked, his +17 reflex save allows him to easily duck fireballs, his twin swords will slaughter lightly armored casters easily.

Torora's greatest strength lies in his ability to protect the Empress - someone attempting to sneak up on the Tengaradu will have to avoid touching the ground while doing so, and make a bluff check against his +14 sense motive, in addition to normal spot and listen checks, to which he's always taking 10 on. If he does sense an approaching assassin, he'll immediately go into battle swinging... with the ability to sense enemies through walls, and attack through them like they were paper, Torora always brings the fight to the enemy.

Torora's primary weakness is other swordsman who are strong enough to withstand his first flurry of attacks. With only 96 HP and 24 AC, it's very easy for Torora to be quickly overpowered by a strong foe. He NEEDS to disarm his foe as quickly as possible, and keep them that way. Oddly enough, Torora could easily kill a clone of himself in one round without any difficulty.

[Dragon_Child]

Here's another character, this time a Knight. This one turned out the total opposite of the Samurai - little in the way of damage, but good luck trying to hurt her! Build-wise, it probablly would have been a better idea to have gone with Chaos Knight and bought a magical armor, to give her a slightly higher AC boost. That, when combined with taking an Ice Aegis or Tower Shield over the Dragonscale Shield could easily give her 40 AC, at the cost of her reflex save... for level 10, that's amazing.

Nayda the Scale Slayer
Female Human Knight 10
True Neutral

Str 16 +3 18 +4
Dex 10 +0
Con 18 +4 22 +6
Int 12 +1
Wis 10 +0
Cha 14 +2

Hit Points 130 HP
AC 33, Touch 14, Flat 31 (+14 armor, +5 shield, +2 deflection, +2 dodge), +4 if creature has longer reach
Init +0
BAB +10, Grap +14
Speed 20 ft
Fort +12 (3 base +6 con +3 resistance)
Ref +9 (3 base +3 fea +3 resistance)
Will +10 (7 base +3 resistance)
+5 vs Supernatural abilties
+4 reflex against creatures with longer reach

Bastard Sword: +15/+10, 1d10+5 , 19-20/x2
Heavy Lance: +15/+10, 1d8+5, x3 (x2 damage when charging)
Longbow: +11/+6, 1d8+5, x2

+15 Handle Animal (13 ranks +2 cha)
+15 Intimidate (13 ranks +2 cha) +8 vs dragons
+13 Ride (13 ranks)
+18 Sense Motive (13 ranks +5 order)
+13 Listen (13 ranks)
+13 Spot (13 ranks)

14 fire resist, 5 elec resist, SR 22

Feats
-Elusive Target, Giant Slayer, Lightning Reflexes, Mage Slayer
-Bonus Feats: Command, Mounted Combat

Knight Abilities
-Designate Opponent +10d6
-Damage Reduction 5/-
-Energy Resistance (15, swift action to choose type)
-Immunity to Fear
-Knightly Spirit (restore ability damage as MEA)
-Defend Other (adjacent allies gain evasion)
-Quicken Recovery (stun and daze only for 1 round)
-Bastion of Defense (adjacent allies get +2 AC and ref)
-Draw Fire (swift action, mindless opponent makes DC 21 will save or attack knight for 10 rounds)
-Mettle
-Spell Shield (SR 22)
-Sacrifice (immediate action, Knight becomes target of attack)
-Knightly Order: Dragon knight (+5 sense motive, armor is +5)

Possessions: MW Red Dragonscale Suit, Heavy Lance +1, Bastard Sword +1, Composite (+4 str) Longbow +1, Crystal Dragonscale Shield +2, Ring of Protection +2, Cloak of Resistance +3, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Amulet of Health +4

Nayda is one of the highest ranking Scale Slayers, an order dedicated to fighting dragons. Cold and ruthless, she's lived a long time in a dangerous profession by being very good at what she does. Nayda rides on an Elder Arrowhawk in combat.

Nayda's biggest strength is her amazing defense, especially against her most hated foes. Against a dragon, she'll have 37 AC, DR 5/-, as well as energy resistance 15-29, SR 22, +19 reflex saves vs their breath weapons, evasion, and ability to negate their power attack bonuses (not that any dragon would try it!). She's also complete immune to their fear, and able to shield her allies against attacks. While she doesn't deal a large amount of damage, her mere presence is trouble enough for a dragon - clad in the scales of their fallen kin, she shields her allies and prevents them from casting spells. If her challenges are unheeded, she can pack quite a punch.

[Dragon_Child]

Of the three classes so far, this one is the simpliest... but still raises a question. How exactly does DR stack? Do multiple sources of DR just use the highest one applicable in the situation?

Grathor the Fierce
Flemereza'Ket Barbarian 12
Chaotic Evil

Str 19 +4 23 +6
Dex 16 +3
Con 16 +3 20 +5
Int 10 +0
Wis 8 -1
Cha 12 +1

Hit Points 155
AC 29, Touch 17, Flat 24 (+10 armor +3 dex +2 natural +2 deflection +2 dodge)
Init +3
BAB +12, Grap +18
Speed 30 ft, +30' when making move actions
Fort +16 (8 base +5 con +3 resistance +3 feat)
Ref +10 (4 base +3 dex +3 resistance)
Will +6 (4 base -1 wis +3 resistance)

DR 12/adam, 8/-, and 5/-

Greataxe: +24/+22/+22, 1d12+15
Raging: +26/+24/+24 1d12+17+6d6
Rage&Blitz: +26/+24/+24 1d12+29+6d6
Each hit, fort DC 21 vs stun and DC 22 vs daze

+19 Intimidate (15 ranks + 1 cha + 3 comp)
+14 Survival (15 ranks - 1 wis)
+14 Listen (15 ranks - 1 wis)
+14 Spot (15 ranks - 1 wis)

Feats
-Blitz, Combat School, Elusive Target, Great Fortitude, Juggernaut

Flemereza'ket Traits
-40' base speed
-Low light vision
-+2 hide, move silently, balance, tumble
-Fire resistance 4, +2 saves against fire, -2 saves against cold

Barbarian Abilities
-Rage (+2 hit and damage, +2 saves, -2 AC , DR 8/-)
-Fast Healing 10
-Rage Dice +6d6
-Combat Movement +30'
-Battle Hardened (Can use Fort instead of Will while raging)
-Sidestep Hazards (Can use Fort instead of Ref while raging)
-Great Blow (Enemies struck must make fort save DC 21 or be stunned)
-Great Life (immune to nonleath, death effects, stuns, crits, negative levels, ability damage)
-Call the Horde (Command feat, followers must be barbarians)

Possessions: Greataxe +4, Adamantine Breastplate +3, Gloves of Giant Strength +4, Belt of Health +4, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Ring of Protection +2, Cloak of Resistance +4, Circlet of Persuasion

The mighty barbarian leader of the plains, Grathor is a powerful warrior who slays any that dare defy him. In a straight combat, Grathor is a powerful brute - his saving throws are huge, and a single raging, blitz strike will deal close to 60 points of damage, as well as provoke two fortitude saves and giving him a chance to Intimidate his foe. In combat, he nearly always uses Blitz for maximum damage, relying on his high DR to keep him safe. Using his Elusive Target feat, he'll try to deflect whatever attacks he can - be it onto enemies or allies, he doesn't care, just so he survives.

[Essence]

Contessa Volus
Monk 1/Assassin 7

Str 8 (-1)
Dex 10 (+0)
Con 12 (+1)
Int 16 (+3)
Wis 20 (+5)
Cha 16 (+3)

HP 6+6d6+1d8+8 = 40 HP
AC 10 base +4 armored in life +5 wisdom
Atk +6 BAB+5 Wisdom
Dmg: Slam 1d8-1 19/x2; Whip Dagger 1d6-1 19/x2; Javelin 1d6-1 20/x2

Fort +6 base +1 Con
Ref +6 base +5 Wis
Will +4 base +5 Wis

Skills
Spot +2 racial +5 Wis
Listen +2 racial+8 ranks +5 Wis
Bluff +10 ranks +3 Cha
Hide +10 ranks
Move Silently +10 ranks
Sense Motive +10 ranks +5 Wis
Search +10 ranks +3 Int
Disable Device +10 ranks +3 Int
Concentration +7 ranks +1 Con
Slight of Hand +10 ranks
Tumble +10 ranks

Feats
1st level: Insightful Strike: Wis on melee atk rolls; Edge vs. lower-Wis and Dex foes; x2 melee threat range
3rd level: Expert Tactician: +4 flanking bonus; feint as immediate action; declare adj. space ‘difficult terrain’ as move
6th level: Zen Archery: Wis on ranged atk rolls; hear-to-see on ranged attacks; touch spells via ranged weapons.

Racial Features
Light 1/day (CL 8th)

Class Features
Armored in Life
Willow Step
Fatal Strike
Fighting Style: Elegant Serpent Kata – Allows slam functions through weapon; slam stuns (DC 19)
EWP: Whip Dagger
Poison Use
Full Death Attack +9d6
Personal Immunity: <list of poisons here>
Uncanny Dodge
Hide in Plain Sight
Cloak of Discretion
Traps
Trapmaking
Palm Weapon

Spells 4/4/3/1 per day
0th Detect Magic, Read Magic, Touch of Fatigue, Ghost Sound, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation
1st Minor Image, True Strike, Color Spray, Disguise Self, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement
2nd False Life, Ghoul Touch, See Invisibility, Mirror Image
3rd Vampiric Touch, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance

Contessa Volus, an Erinyes’ granddaughter, finds mortal life all too short – particularly when it’s not her own. Drop dead sexy, her friends call her, and for good reason.

Contessa has a startling variety of tactics at her disposal, and her “favorite” is different every day. With a natural Slam attack, Contessa can use her whip dagger and still maintain a threat range in her immediate vicinity. If she gets the drop on a foe, she’ll usually study (of course), then open with a volley of Javelins that are +9d6 (Death Attack), Fort vs. unconsiousness (Drow poison), Fort vs Stun (Fighting Style), Fort vs. Paralysis (Ghoul Touch, via Zen Archery).

If she can’t get the drop on her foes, she’ll open with a whip dagger that’s Fort vs. Stun on the first attack. Failing to Stun, she’ll use the second attack to trip you (and almost always have the Edge doing it). Either way, she’ll spend the second round in Study, either because you’re stunned or because you can’t full attack (needing a move to stand up). The third round will start with an Immediate feint (Expert Tactician) followed by a Death Attack Slam, with a Vampiric Touch tacked on for good measure if she’s been hit hard in the intervening round.

Of course, if she can’t stun OR trip you, she’ll toss off a Mirror Image and move to flank, giving a buddy a +4 to hit your ass while she hopes to nail you with an AoO Slam and stun you that way.

Of course, if you’re a tough brute and Stun/poison isn’t going to work, she’ll try Silent Image and Color Spray to buy herself some study time. If all else fails, she’ll Javelin you with a Touch of Fatigue and then Ray of Enfeeblement to get you to a much less threatening place.



All of this is without equipment primarily because IDHMBIFOM ATM. Feel free to imagine level-appropriate equipment (primarily Wis+2, armor +1, Whip +1, Cloak/Boots of Elvenkind, and something +Bluff for the feintosity.) and tremble with fear.

[Shokatsuryou]

Cool! I really like the characters so far.

One thing that maybe Frank or K could clear up... how does Two-Weapon Fighting work with Iaijutsu, Whirlwind, and Cleave?

I'm not frank or K, but TWF seems to give you an extra offhand AoO for each AoO normally allowed by BAB: "you gain an extra Attack of Opportunity each round for each attack you would be allowed for your BAB". So if you have a BAB of +11, you normally have three AoOs, but with two-weapon fighting you would get six.

I am not sure how if or how it interacts with Horde Breaker, which gives extra AoOs.

I think the intent is to allow the player to make an AoO with both weapons whenever one is provoked.

Whirlwind is a little easier. You can make a primary and an offhand attack against each foe.

I very nearly made a two-weapon samurai myself. It seems to be pretty awesome.

I have a question for you on your samurai character:

Off Hand: +22/+17/+17 1d6+12 +1d6 elec +1 con 19-20/x2

The off-hand damage seems too high. Isn't it supposed to be 1/2 Str (or I guess Dex in this case), for:

1d6 + (9/2) + 3 = 1d6 + 7, +elec, etc.

Or do Tomes characters get full Str bonus for offhand attacks?

How exactly does DR stack? Do multiple sources of DR just use the highest one applicable in the situation?

I have no clue. This is a very good question. There are losts of ways to get DR now, so if anyone has any insight on this issue, please let us know...

Gut feeling says use the highest applicable, but I have no rules sources to back me up on that.

Racial Features
Light 1/day (CL 8th)
...
an Erinyes’ granddaughter

Essence, is your character an aasimar? If so, I like how you used the redefinition of an aasimar: "Aasimar are the great grandchildren of beautiful outsiders."

[Dragon_Child]

Or do Tomes characters get full Str bonus for offhand attacks?

To quote Two-Weapon Fighting:

You suffer no penalty for doing things with your off-hand

I took this to mean it got full bonuses... but looking at it, I guess it could ALSO mean you only get 1/2 str, or even still suffer the -2/-2. Probablly best if that's cleared up as well. This seems to be the best way to find all the little errors - using the rules.

Also, for what it's worth, all of the characters I posted are pre-existing NPCs in one of my campaigns. I'm not trying to break the rules, but rather see how they would work in a game. I'm likely to convert my setting to the toem rules when all is said and done, so this is a good examination for me.

[Shokatsuryou]

Also, for what it's worth, all of the characters I posted are pre-existing NPCs in one of my campaigns. I'm not trying to break the rules, but rather see how they would work in a game. I'm likely to convert my setting to the toem rules when all is said and done, so this is a good examination for me.

That's cool - any kind of character is good for this thread. Of the characters I posted, Keiko was a pre-existing NPC that I have reused since waaay back in 2nd edition in some form or another. The others are new characters and basically thought experiments. I am also examining how these rules work in a game.

Use, bend, or try to break the rules as you see fit.

Now for another character:

This is my Samurai's cohort. Since it is a cohort, the character is not quite as complete (not all magic items decided, etc.). His main purpose is to summon or call elementals and outsiders to slap around for wishes.

Sources Used: PHB, DMG, MM, DMG 2, Races of War, Dungeonomicon, Tome of Fiends, Tome of Trees (excerpt)

Cir Hoofboorn
Fey-touched Summoner 10
Lawful Evil

(Abilities determined by standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)

Str 8 (base) = 8 (-1)
Dex 10 (base) +2 (race) = 12 (+1)
Con 13 (base) -2 (race) = 11 (0)
Int 14 (base) = 14 (+2)
Wis 12 (base) = 12 (+1)
Cha 15 (base) +2 (race) +2 (levels) +5 (inherent) = 24 (+7), +2 (enhancement) = 26 (+8)

Hit Points 34
AC 16, Touch 11, Flat 15 (+5 armor +1 dexterity)
Init +3
BAB +5, Grap +4
Speed 30 ft
Fort +5 (3 base +2 resistance)
Ref +10 (7 base +1 dex +2 resistance)
Will +10 (7 base +1 wis +2 resistance)

Attacks
masterwork longspear: +5 melee, 1d8-1, x3
masterwork light crossbow of distance: +7 ranged, 1d8, 19-20/x2, 80' range

Skills
+16 Bluff (5 ranks +8 cha +3 competence)
+15 Concentration (13 ranks +2 gith armor)
+24 Diplomacy (7 ranks +8 cha +6 synergy +3 competence)
+17 Intimidate (4 ranks +8 cha +2 synergy +3 competence)
+12 Knowledge - Nobility and Royalty (8 ranks +2 int +2 competence)
+17 Knowledge - the Planes (13 ranks, +2 int +2 competence)
+11 Profession - Infernal Lawyer (10 ranks +1 wis)
+6 Sense Motive (5 ranks +1 wis)
+15 Spellcraft (13 ranks +2 int)

Feats
- Apprenticed(devil) -> upgraded to Mentor(devil), Attune Sphere (Seduction), Leadership, Broker of the Infernal

Racial Traits
* Fey Type
* 30 foot movement rate
* Low-Light Vision
* +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution.
* Immunity to [Compulsion] Effects
* Magic Affinity: charm person 1/day (Will DC 23)


Summoner Abilities
-Spellcasting: 6/6+2/6+2/6+2/5+2/3+1
-Rapid Summoning: full round casting time summons reduced to 1 round
-Summoned Cohort: may extend summoning spell to 24 hours 1/day
-Armored Casting: may cast Summoner spells in Medium Armor with no arcane spell failure.
-Aura: for detect alignment spells, counts as 10 HD Lawful Evil outsider
-Sudden Extend: may use Sudden Extend feat 1/day
-Extend Summoning: May extend 2nd level or lower Summoning spells for free
-Master Tactician: allies within 30' gain +4 flanking bonus instead of +2
-Summon (Sp): 40% chance summon lawful evil outsider CR 10, or lower CR outsider with +10% chance for each CR below 10.


Spells Known
0th level: Anticipate Teleportation, Caltrops, Darkness, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Light, Protection from Alignment, Read Magic, Resist Planar Alignment
1st level: Avoid Planar Effects, Comprehend Languages, Grease, Portal Beacon, Summon Frost Beast I, Summon Monster I, Summon Nature's Ally I, Summon Undead I, Wall of Smoke, +Entice Gift (Seduction Sphere) and cure light wounds (Advanced Learning)
2nd level: Analyze Portal, Baleful Transposition, Dimension Hop, Daylight, Deeper Darkness, Entangle, Phantom Steed, Planar Tolerance, Portal Alarm, Regroup, Sleet Storm, Summon Frost Beast II, Summon Monster II, Summon Nature's Ally II, Summon Undead II, Tongues, Web, Wind Wall, +Suggestion (Seduction Sphere) and glitterdust, fog cloud (Advanced Learning)
3rd level: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Dimension Step, dimensional anchor, Greater Anticipate Teleportation, Magic Circle Against Alignment, Plant Growth, Stinking Cloud, Summon Frost Beast III, Summon Monster III, Summon Nature's Ally III, Summon Undead III, Vipergout, Wall of Ice, +Glibness (Seduction Sphere)
4th level: Dimension Door, Dismissal, Drawmij's Instant Summons, lesser planar ally, lesser planar binding, Summon Frost Beast IV, Summon Monster IV, Summon Nature's Ally IV, Summon Undead IV, Wall of Fire, +Charm Monster (Seduction Sphere) and solid fog (Advanced Learning)
5th level: Dimension Shuffle, dimensional lock, Evard's Black Tentacles, Greater Dimension Door, Planeshift, Summon Frost Beast V, Summon Monster V, Summon Nature's Ally V, Summon Undead V, Teleport, Wall of Iron, Wall of Stone, Word of Recall, +Sympathy (Seduction Sphere)

Possessions: gith armor, circlet of persuasion, vest of resistance +1, cloak of charisma +2, lesser metamagic rod (Enlarge Spell), wand of cure light wounds, masterwork longspear, masterwork light crossbow...

Edit - I made several mistakes when I originally posted this character. Since summoners cast like Sorcerers (not wizards), they lag behind a level in spellcasting and Cir couldn't qualify for his prestige class yet. Without the PrC, getting wishes is a little less reliable, so I reduced inherent bonuses and gave him gear more in line with a normal NPC. I also finally chose some spells for his Advanced Learning ability.

Also, I modified his skills so he could qualify for Initiate of the Black Tower or Barrister of the Nine at character level 11.

[Essence]

Pardon me for being a total dumbshit, but where is the Tome of Trees excerpt?

Thanks.

[Dragon_Child]

It's found here: http://bb.bbboy.net/thegamingden-viewth ... postnum=28

[Essence]

Thank you!

[Essence]

Harley Quinn, Human Jester 4/Monk 2/Thief Acrobat 2
Stats:
Str 8 -1
Dex 10 +0
Con 16 +3
Int 12 +1
Wis 16 +3
Cha 18 +4


Derived Stats
HP: 57
AC: 18 (touch 18, flatfooted 15)
BAB: +6/+1

Fort: +15
Ref: +19
Will: +15

Speed: 60 ft.
Initiative: +3


Skills:
Balance: +8
Bluff: +12
Disable Device: +7
Jump: +7 (+19 w/running start due to high speed)
Search: +7
Sense Motive: +11
Slight of Hand: +8
Tumble: +8


Feats:
Insightful Strike (Melee w/Wis, Edge vs. low-Wis/Dex, x2 threat)
Expert Tactician (+4 flank, bluff as Immediate, 'rough terrain' as move)
Danger Sense (+3 Init, "active" search, take 10 Spot/Listen)
Mage Slayer (SR 13, dmg is "ongoing", disallow defensive casting)


Proficiencies:
Light Armor
Simple Weapon
Monk Weapons
Sap, Shortsword, Whip, Bolas, Long Staff


Class Features:
Harlequin's Mask
Ignore Components
Poison Use
Laugh it Off
Power Slide
Jester's Feint
Sneak Attack +2d6
Acrobatic Flair
Trapfinding
Pole Jump
Evasion
Armored in Life +5
Fatal Strike 1d8
Willow Step
Fighting Style: +30' insight to move, +4 Dodge to saves
Rain of Flowers
Abundant Leap


Spells: (4/3/2)
0th: Alarm, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Grease, Unseen Servant, Ventriloquism
1st: Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter, Fire Trap, Glitterdust, Magic Mouth
2nd: Unluck, Explosive Runes


Tactics:
Harley averages a +17 on her Jump check, netting her a 30' long jump and an 8' high jump, to which she adds twice her 10' reach (long staff), for a 50' long jump (12.5' high at the midpoint) and an 28' high jump. This is easily enough to clear the reach of any Medium-sized character that isn't wielding a reach weapon.

With a running start, she nets an average of +29, netting her a 55'+20'=75' long jump (18.25' high at the midpoint) and a 13'+20'=33' high jump. Now she can clear a Medium-sized character with a reach weapon in most cases.

Combined with her ridiculously high saves and her extreme mobility, Harley has found that this talent for height makes her a very good magekiller, and has recently started training to this effect.

She can feint on both of her attacks per round (Jester's Feint + Expert Tactician), so she nearly always gets her Sneak Attack dice in. She's not incredibly observant, using her powers of observation and trap-disabling as a distant second to the power of "I've got great saves, I'll just trip it and see what happens"osity. In fact, her skills blow in general, but she doesn't care. If you need a particular skill to be competitve, buy her a skill-boosting item, that's her philosophy.

For added fun, if in a dungeon crawl, she'll time the guard's patrol, and set a scroll with Explosive Runes down right next to a magic mouth describing why the guards should read the scroll while standing right next to whatever door she wants opened.







Gal Ahad, Knight 4/Fighter 3/Monk 1 (to be posted in full at a later date)
Ahad ignores the flavor text of the Knight, using the Designate Opponent ability with archery to inflict massive damage from range while proecting herself with the attack-interrupting Monk ability to AoO people who attack her with disarm and trip attempts.

[User3]

Human Fighter 9/Legendary Strategist 1
10: +10 | 6/6/6 | 9d10+1d8

Ability scores (28): S 14 (16), D 14, C 14, I 14, W 10, C 10.

AC: 25 = 10+12+1+2. Saves: 8=6+2/8=6+2/6.

Skills: Balance 5, Bluff 13, Craft (Traps) 13, Diplomacy 13, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (Engineering) 13, (History) 9, Ride 9, Search 13, Sense Motive 13, Spot 13.

Feats (9): Combat School, Command, Danger Sense, Elusive Target, Expert Tactician, Horde Breaker, Phalanx Fighter, Sniper, Whirlwind.
Class abilities: Weapons Training, Combat Focus, Bonus Feats (4), Problem Solver, Pack Mule, Logistics Mastery, Active Assault, Forge Lore, Improved Delay, Foil Action, A Wold of Opportunity, Assistance, Legacies of Command.

Commander Rating: 3.
Leadership score: 13.

EQ~
Mechanus masterwork armor: AC+12, MDB 1, ACP 7, ASP 8.
Strength +2, 'fine' while dying, DR 6/adamantium.
Magical Spiked Chain. Guisarme if you don't like chains.
Longbow. An X-bow or gun would go better with the imagery, but the lack of Strength to damage is not workable.

This character is strong against both single enemies and armies. When fighting as a champion, he can use Foil Action (at 60', thanks to Sniper) and the Daze effect of Combat School to cramp the enemy's style, and possibly using Finesse (Problem Solver) to gain The Edge over a less agile opponent. When fighting many enemies, he combines Whirlwind with Horde Breaker and Combat School (Daze DC 18) to keep things in lock down, tripping a necessary. On the larger scale, he is adept at the use and construction of siege weaponry (Craft (Traps), Knowledge (Engineering), proficiency from Legendary Strategist). Although is isn't truely a 'mounted combatant,' he knows enough about animals to save himself some embarassment. He isn't an archer either, but he can be somewhat effective with a bow.

This could represent just about any figure of legend who was considered a great leading without being likable, and a great strategist without being particularly 'wise.' Something like a millitary Machiavelli leading massive mob of metal-clad myrmidons ("Brotherhood of Steel"?). His cohort could be anything from a cleric (to give him legitimacy a conqueror) to a lammasu (to give him legitimacy AND act as a flying mount!).

Because I don't know how crafting and wealth-by-level are supposed to work in bizarro K/Frank D&D, I didn't include any magic.

With the way the new feats work, a fighter ends up with so many abilities that writing them on your character sheet isn't enough. You have to figure out ahead of time which of them will apply to any particular action the character might take, as well as the effects of probable Problem Solver feats. Which I find to be entertaining.

[Iaimeki]

Human Monk 1/Samurai 19

Str 14, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8 (28 point buy)

Feats:
Hu: Zen Archery
1st: Insightful Strike
3rd: Combat School of Things That Look Like Scythes and Fists
Sam 2: Hordebreaker
Sam 4: Whirlwind Attack
6th: Blitz
Sam 6: Blindfighting
9th: Great Fortitude
Sam 9: Subtle Cut
12th: Danger Sense
15th: Lightning Reflexes
18th: Elusive Target

Monk Styles:
Mnk 1: lazy hummingbird technique (+30' insight movement, concealment)

This character's goal is to stack as many non-dice damage bonuses as possible, then stab their enemy's face with a scythe while using kiai!, doing massive damage and hopefully killing them in a single hit. If that fails, between Insightful Strike and full BAB they should have the Edge against most things, and their other melee stats aren't bad; they can also use kiai! arrows with some facility, though it's not anywhere near as dangerous as their melee attack. Against groups, they have Hordebreaker and Whirlwind Attack from samurai. Except for Will, their saves are nothing to call home about, and later on they pick up feats to boost them, but the samurai's antimagic abilities will stop most spell attacks.

They're built around Wis-synergy using willow step, Insightful Strike, and Zen Archery to run AC, Reflex saves, and attacks off Wis, with iaijutsu master providing a nice late bonus synergy; they also pick up another synergy once they have 18 ranks in Tumble, the mithril suit enhancing the lazy hummingbird technique's concealment to total concealment.

[Since K and Frank haven't written the Tome of Gears yet, which presumably totally reworks the item cost structure, I used current values and estimated for the piece of equipment K and Frank haven't provided a value for, the armor. I'm also using the rule where all characters of 6th-level or higher get GMW 1/day as a spell-like ability; this character casts it on their longbow.]

At 6th level: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 19, Cha 8

+2 headband of Wis (4k), +1 mithril suit (~5.2k?), ancestral +1 scythe (~2.4k), masterwork composite longbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +1 ring of protection (2k)

6d8+12 (42.5 avg. hp); movement 60'; init +1; AC 22 normal, 15 touch, 15 incorporeal (+4 dodge); +6 BAB; saves +5/+7/+9

Attacks ancestral scythe +13/+11 melee (2d4+6/19-20/x4) and slam +8 melee (1d8+3/19-20/x2) or masterwork composite longbow +11/+9 ranged (1d8+3/x3)

Skills [Ranks]: Balance +14 [9], Jump +8 [5], Listen +13 [9], Sense Motive +8 [4], Spot +13 [9], Tumble +11 [9]

Ancestral guidance, kiai! (4/day), pledge of loyalty

The kiai! face-stab does an expected 44 damage at 6th level, enough to kill themselves outright, even before using Blitz to add 24 more while drawing an AoO or using power attack. However, the variance is quite high since a substantial portion of their damage is based on weapon dice at this point. They can take out a good proportion of CR-appropriate challenges in one hit.

At 11th level: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 22, Cha 8

+4 belt of Str (16k), +4 headband of Wis (16k), +2 shirt of Con (4k), boots of speed (12k), +1 mithril suit (~5.2k?), ancestral +1 thundering scythe (~8.4k), masterwork composite longbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +1 ring of protection (2k)

11d8+44 (97 avg. hp); movement 60'; init +1; AC 24 normal, 17 touch, 17 incorporeal (+6 dodge); +11 BAB; saves +11/+11/+14

Attacks ancestral +1 thundering scythe +22/+20/+20 melee (2d4+12/19-20/x7) and slam +17 melee (1d8+5/19-20/x3) or masterwork composite longbow +19/+17/+17 ranged (1d8+7/x3)

Skills [Ranks]: Balance +20 [14], Jump +11 [5], Listen +20 [14], Sense Motive +15 [9], Spot +20 [14], Tumble +17 [14]

Ancestral guidance, blade of devastation, iaijutsu, kiai! (7/day), parry magic, pledge of loyalty, terrible blows

The kiai! face-stab has gone up to an expected 146 [(2d4+12)x7+6d8] damage at 11th level, and can add 77 more with Blitz while drawing an AoO and more with power attack.

At 16th level: Str 20, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 26, Cha 8

+6 belt of Str (36k), +6 headband of Wis (36k), +6 gloves of Dex (36k), +4 vest of Con (16k), boots of speed (12k), +1 mithril suit of moderate fortification (~20.2k?), ancestral +1 thundering scythe (~8.4k), oathbow (~25.4k), handy haversack (2k), +2/+1 ring of superior protection [+2 deflection, +1 luck/sacred/insight to AC] (19.25k), +2 amulet of natural armor (8k), bracers of greater archery (25k), +4 cloak of resistance (16k)

16d8+80 (155.5 avg. hp); movement 60'; init +10; AC 32 normal, 23 touch, 23 incorporeal (+8 dodge); +16 BAB; saves +18/+22/+22

Attacks ancestral +1 thundering scythe +34/+32/+32/+32 melee (2d4+18/19-20/x7) and slam +29 melee (1d8+12/19-20/x3) or oathbow +30/+28/+28/+28 ranged (1d8+10/x3)

Skills [Ranks]: Balance +28 [19], Jump +12 [5], Listen +27 [19], Sense Motive +22 [14], Spot +27 [19], Tumble +25 [19]

Ancestral guidance, blade of devastation, cut magic, deny caster defenses, final cut, iaijutsu focus, iaijutsu master (DC 26), kiai! (9/day), parry magic, pledge of loyalty, terrible blows

The kiai! face-stab has gone up to an expected 188 [(2d4+18)x7+6d8] damage at 11th level, and can add 112 more with Blitz while drawing an AoO and more with power attack. When they get iaijutsu grandmaster, they can easily deal upwards of 3000 damage per round with a full attack and all of their attacks of opportunity. Of course, by 16th-level an increasing portion of enemies have critical immunity, and soon enough, they will become useless in practice.

[The_Matthew]

Tiefling True Fiend 9/Conduit of Lower Planes 3
STR 13 +5 Inherent=18
DEX 17 +2 Racial +5 Inherent=24
CON 13 +5 Inherent=18
INT 14 +2 Racial +5 Inherent=21
WIS 11 +5 Inherent=16
CHA 18 -2 Racial +3 Level +5 Inherent=24
(4d6 drop low stats)
Fort: +11 Ref: +14 Will: +11
HP: 56 +8d8 +3d6
BaB: +11/+6/+6

Skills: Sense Motive +17, Hide +21, Listen +15, UMD +19, Search +17, Disguise +19, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (Planes) +20, Concentration +19, Bluff +26, Diplomacy +28

Feats: Fiendish Invisability(In Light), Devour the Soul, Essence Gourmand, Wings of Evil, Mentor(Demondand) traded up from apprentice.

Class Features: Immortality, Telepathy, Freedom of Movement, Immunity to Poison, Immunity to Sonic, Immunity to Acid, Immunity to Electricity, DR 9/good, Summon Demondand, Enhanced Sphere Access, Terror Sphere, Seduction Sphere, Advanced Violation Sphere

Spell-Like Abilities
At Will: Detect Thoughts
14/day: Suggestion DC 19
9/day: Hypnotism DC 18
7/day: Modify Memory DC 20, Entice Gift, Cause Fear DC 18
6/day: Scare DC 19, Dominate Person DC 21
5/day: Glibness, Halt Undead DC 20, Lesser Planar Binding DC 22
4/day: Charm Monster, Fear DC 21, Geas DC 23
3/day: Sympathy, Phantasmal Killer DC 22
2/day: Mass Suggestion, Symbol of Fear DC 23

Note: Followed around by a level 7 Fiendish Brute Demondand as a diversion, also has a level 2 Demondand Apprentice in the works. Plays around in the Wish economy, and has fun messing with people's minds. At level 19 they'll have Mind Rape 4/day DC 27 to resist so it'll be funny.

[Username17]

I'm going to start putting up some of the iconics as fleshed out characters. We've got an Aasimar Assassin, a Goblin Knight, and a Halfling Samurai that we use to bounce things off of, for example.

I really like where this is going.

-Username17

[Iaimeki]

Despite my usual preference for lightly armored characters that combine multiple abilities and have lots of utility, I've always had a weird desire to play a troll, perhaps because it's very hard for a troll PC to die unless your DM goes out of their way to be mean to you. Like most monsters, though, the troll is unplayable at its ECL, where it's supposedly the equivalent of an 11th-level character despite having two-thirds to one-half as many hit points as an 11th-level melee tank, no ability to fight outside melee, and an attack bonus that makes me cry. Let's see if RoW can rescue the troll.

Converting the stat mods using Method 1 gives +8 Str, +8 Con, -2 Int, -4 Wis, -4 Cha. However, having trolls be smarter than they are wise because of the way the stat arrays line up is dumb, so let's flip that, getting +8 Str, +8 Con, -4 Int, -2 Wis, -4 Cha. The troll has 6 HD and is CR 6 as a PC, but only has BAB +4. With the exception of the frost giant in the examples, which gets somewhat shafted on hit points (~110 with 10 HD, vs. 133 natively), Method 2 indicates that total hit points should come out about the same, so its native d8 HD look fine. For some reason, all the examples increase base skill points to 4 + Int, so let's do that too. The ogre gets full BAB, so I imagine a troll, as another melee specialist, should too. Despite being a giant, the "troll as characters" entry notes no proficiencies, so I presume that overrides the general giant type.

• +8 Strength, +8 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma.
  
• Giant Type.
  
• Large size.
  
• Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
  
• 30' movement.
  
• Low-light vision and darkvision 90'.
  
• +5 natural armor.
  
• Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d6) and bite (1d6).
  
• Rend: If a troll hits with both claw attacks, it deals an extra 2d6+1½ times Str modifier damage.
  
• Scent.
  
• Regeneration 5. Fire and acid deal normal damage to a troll. If a troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The troll can reattach a severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.
  
• Automatic Languages: Giant, Common. Bonus Languages: Orc.
  
• Favored Classes: Fighter and Ranger.
  
• 6 Starting Hit Dice (6d8; 4 + Int modifier x 9 skill points; +5 Fort, +2 Reflex, +2 Will; +6 BAB).

This character retains the troll's signature near-invulnerability while having stats more in line with a typical 6th-level character. When I glance over its stats, my intuition says that it's around as dangerous as a 6th-level barbarian from a normal race, which is about right. Let's see what a more detailed look shows.

There are two interesting paths for a PC troll using the RoW classes. The natural progression, barbarian, picks up the ability to use the troll's awesome Fort save to make the other saves as well and then immunity to nonlethal damage, which makes the troll well-nigh invulnerable. Unfortunately, personal invulnerability in D&D isn't worth that much because it just makes enemies target the other members of the party. The other, more interesting option tries to turn the troll's durability into an advantage for the rest of the party.

Meet Grog, the troll knight. Grog was raised by humans and so always has Ride and some other irrelevant skills in-class.

Grog the Troll Knight

Troll 6/Knight 10

Str 24 (16+8), Dex 14, Con 24 (16+8), Int 4 (8-4), Wis 8 (10-2), Cha 4 (8-4) (28 point buy)

Feats:

1st: Elusive Target
3rd: Horde Breaker
6th: Juggernaut
Knt 1: Mounted Combat
9th: Phalanx Fighting
Knt 5: Command
12th: Blind Fighting
15th: Lightning Reflexes
18th: Iron Will

At 6th level: Str 26, Dex 14, Con 26, Int 4, Wis 8, Cha 4

+2 bracers of Str (4k), +2 belt of Con (4k), handy haversack (2k), +1 ring of protection (2k), +2 cloak of protection (4k)

6d8+48 (78.5 avg. hp); movement 30'; init +2; AC 19 normal, 14 touch, 14 incorporeal (+4 dodge); +6 BAB; saves +15/+6/+3

Attacks 2 claws +14 melee (1d6+8) and bite +9 melee (1d6+4)

Skills [Ranks]: Ride +11 [9]

Darkvision 90', low-light vision, rend 2d6+12, regeneration 5, scent

At this level, with no knight levels, Grog is just a melee specialist with a glass jaw: low AC and no Will save to speak of. If he hits with both claws, he expects to do 44 damage thanks to the rend, which isn't even all that impressive compared to say, a greatsword-wielding-half-orc barbarian with similar feat choices, who does about 27 damage in a single attack. About all he has goes going for him is that with Large size, Juggernaut, and full BAB, his combat maneuvers are not to be taken lightly. With no ranged atttack, he fits the troll-sucker-punch stereotype to a tee.

At 11th level: Str 27, Dex 14, Con 26, Int 4, Wis 8, Cha 4

+2 bracers of Str (4k), +2 belt of Con (4k), boots of speed (12k), +1 stone plate (~17.5k?) [-8 ACP], +1 animated ice aegis (~19.5k?) [-4 ACP], masterwork greatlance (~.3k), masterwork greatspear (~.3k), masterwork composite greatbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +1 ring of protection (2k), +2 cloak of resistance (4k)

[I estimated that stone plate probably costs as much as adamantine full plate. I took a stab in the dark that an ice aegis costs about as much as mithral full plate. The greatlance, greatspear, and greatbow are Large versions of the lance, longspear, and longbow, respectively.]

6d8+5d12+88 (151 avg. hp); movement 20'; init +2; AC 35 normal, 13 touch, 13 incorporeal (+3 dodge); +11 BAB; saves +17/+7/+7

Attacks masterwork polearm +20/+15/+15 melee (2d6+14/x3) and bite +13 melee (1d6+4) or 2 claws +18 melee (1d6+8) and bite +13 melee (1d6+4) or masterwork composite greatbow +13/+8/+8 ranged (2d6+8/x3)

[Grog uses GMW on either the greatlance or greatspear depending on whether he expects to fight inside or outside.]

Skills [Ranks]: Ride +16 [14]

Code of conduct, damage reduction 2/—, darkvision 90', designate opponent +5d6, earth subtype, energy resistance 11 (usually acid), fire resistance 6, ignores first 5 points of nonlethal damage from physical attacks, immunity to cold and fear, knightly spirit, low-light vision, rend 2d6+12, regeneration 5, scent, speak to animals

Grog looks more like a real character now. While his non-Fort saves still suck, he has ridiculous AC, and between damage reduction, regeneration, and his stone plate, negates seven damage from any physical attack that hits him. The knight's energy resistance ability synergizes nicely with the only way to kill Grog using hit point damage, and makes it harder to cheese him using, e.g., alchemist's fire with sneak attack. Grog's weapons are almost incidental to his actual combat potential, since most of his damage comes from designate opponent; their main advantage is that they give him 20' reach while still allowing him to hit enemies within 10' because of Phalanx Fighter. His combat maneuvers remain decent, though now lots of monsters have higher BAB than their CRs. Grog takes as a cohort some Huge magical beast that he can ride around outside. (An yrthak is a decent core choice, but he really wants something with an alternate form or change shape ability so it can walk around inside too. I'm sure something exists, but I'm not digging through six books of monsters to find it.)

At 16th level: Str 37, Dex 18, Con 28, Int 4, Wis 10, Cha 4

+6 bracers of Str (36k), +4 gloves of Dex (16k), +4 belt of Con (16k), +2 headband of Wis (4k), boots of speed (12k), +1 stone plate of moderate fortification (~32.5k?) [-8 ACP], +3 animated ice aegis (~35.5k?) [-4 ACP], masterwork greatlance (~.3k), masterwork great spear (~.3k), masterwork composite greatbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +3/+2 ring of superior protection [+3 deflection, +2 luck/sacred/insight to AC] (63k), +2 amulet of natural armor (8k), +5 cloak of resistance (25k), bag of holding IV filled with rocks (10k)

6d8+10d12+144 (239.5 avg. hp); movement 30'; init +7; AC 50 normal, 26 touch, 26 incorporeal (+6 dodge); +16 BAB; saves +22/+17/+14

[+4 Dex, +11 armor, +8 shield, -1 size, +7 enhanced natural, +3 deflection, +2 luck, +2 insight, +2 sacred, +2 dodge]

Attacks masterwork polearm +32/+27/+27/+27 melee (2d6+23/x3) and bite +23 melee (1d6+6) or 2 claws +28 melee (1d6+13) and bite +23 melee (1d6+6) or rock +20 ranged (2d8+19/x3) or masterwork composite greatbow +20/+15/+15/+15 ranged (2d6+13/x3)

Skills [Ranks]: Ride +23 [19]

Bastion of defense, code of conduct, damage reduction 5/—, darkvision 90', defend others, designate opponent +10d6, draw fire (DC 27), earthglide, earth subtype, energy resistance 18 (usually acid), ignores first 5 points of nonlethal damage from physical attacks, immunity to cold, fear, and fire, knightly spirit, knightly order (great knight), low-light vision, mettle, quick recovery, regeneration 5, rend 2d6+19, sacrifice, scent, speak to animals, spell resistance 29

Grog has more or less just improved everything he already does. He has a few more tactical options, from e.g., rock throwing and earthglide, and a few more defenses, such as fire immunity and mettle. I opted for great knight as a good general choice. Chaos knight would be a decent choice if he was devoted to chaos; if he was willing to forgo fire resistance earlier in his career or swap shields at some point (an expensive proposition), he could become a bane knight and pick up immunity to two of the ways to actually kill him. His cohort has also improved, probably to something dragonish.

Bonus Feature: Grug, the Troll Barbarian

Troll 6/Barbarian 14

1st: Blitz
3rd: Horde Breaker
6th: Juggernaut
9th: Great Fortitude
12th: Blind Fighting
15th: Combat School of Little Stabby Things (chain spikes, claws, bites)
Bbn 11: Command
18th: Danger Sense

At 11th-level: Str 27, Dex 14, Con 28, Int 4, Wis 8, Cha 4

+2 bracers of Str (4k), +4 belt of Con (16k), boots of speed (12k), masterwork breastplate (~.3k) [-3 ACP], +1 animated force shield (~10k?) [-0 ACP], adamantine greatchain (~3k), masterwork composite greatbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +1 ring of protection (2k), +2 cloak of resistance (4k), minor ring of acid resistance (12k)

[I really have no idea what a breastplate does, other than absorb nonlethal damage; the other possible option, chainmail, doesn't even have an entry. I used mithral prices for the shield, but that's a stab in the dark. The greatchain and greatbow are Large versions of the spiked chain and longbow, respectively.]

6d8+5d12+110 (173 avg. hp); movement 40'; init +2; AC 25 normal, 18 touch, 18 incorporeal (+4 dodge); +11 BAB; saves +25/+9/+6 (uses Fort for all while raging)

Attacks adamantine greatchain +23/+21/+21 melee (4d6+17) and bite +16 melee (1d6+6) or 2 claws +21 melee (3d6+10) and bite +16 melee (3d6+6) or masterwork composite greatbow +13/+8/+8 ranged (2d6+8/x3)

[Grug uses GMW on the chain. Most stats are while raging.]

Skills [Ranks]: Spot +13 [14]

Acid resistance 10, battle hardened, combat movement 10', damage reduction 4/— (while raging), darkvision 90', fast healing 5 (while not raging), ignores first 5 points of nonlethal damage from physical attacks, low-light vision, rage, rage dice +2d6, rend 2d6+12, regeneration 5, scent, sidestep hazards

When raging, Grug does lots of damage in melee and is incredibly difficult to take down. He negates ten damage from each attack, between damage reduction and ignoring nonlethal damage, and regenerates; he also has some acid resistance, so is harder to hurt with one of the common troll banes. His saves should be good enough so that he only ever fails anything on a natural 1. He can also cut through most obstacles that a caster might be able to generate. His biggest weakness is being caught and disabled with a non-damaging effect before he has a chance to rage. At this point, he's probably still weaker than Grog in straight-up resilience.

At 16th-level: Str 33, Dex 14, Con 30, Int 4, Wis 8, Cha 4

+6 bracers of Str (36k), +4 gloves of Dex (16k), +6 belt of Con (36k), boots of speed (12k), +1 red dragonscale shirt (~1.6k) [-3 ACP], +3 animated force shield (~26k?) [-0 ACP], adamantine greatchain (~3k), masterwork composite greatbow (~.4k), handy haversack (2k), +3/+2 ring of superior protection [+3 deflection, +2 luck/sacred/insight to AC] (63k), bag of holding IV filled with rocks (10k), +4 cloak of resistance (16k), greater ring of acid resistance (44k)

[I used dragon scale mail prices for the dragon armor as a random guess at how much a dragonscale shirt costs. The greatchain and greatbow are Large versions of the spiked chain and longbow, respectively.]

6d8+10d12+176 (271.5 avg. hp); movement 55'; init +4; AC 42 normal, 24 touch, 30 incorporeal (+4 dodge); +16 BAB; saves +29/+13/+8 (uses Fort for all while raging)

[-1 size, +4 Dex, +7 armor, +6 shield, +5 natural, +3 deflection, +2 luck, +2 insight, +2 sacred, +4 cover, -2 rage]

Attacks adamantine greatchain +34/+32/+32/+32 melee (7d6+24) and bite +28 melee (1d6+9) or 2 claws +30 melee (6d6+15) and bite +28 melee (6d6+9) or rock +20 ranged (2d8+16/x3) or masterwork composite greatbow +20/+18/+18/+18 ranged (2d6+11/x3)

[Grug uses GMW on the chain. Most stats are while raging.]

Skills [Ranks]: Spot +18 [19]

Acid resistance 30, battle hardened, combat movement 25', damage reduction 10/— (while raging), darkvision 90', fast healing 10 (while not raging), great blows (DC 28), great life, immune to fire, low-light vision, rage, rage dice +5d6, rend 2d6+16, regeneration 5, scent, sidestep hazards

Once Grug starts raging, he's all but invulnerable. He's immune to nonlethal damage, but because of regeneration, all damage that doesn't come from fire or acid is nonlethal; with fire immunity and acid resistance 30, he's effectively immune to dying from any damage whatsoever. With a Fort save of +29 at 16th level, he expects to fail saves only on natural 1s. Stopping Grug requires clever use of spells without saves that bypass his immunities, not an easy task, or disabling him before he gets to act. Of course, Grog is still more dangerous if ignored because of designate opponent and provides much better defensive benefits to the party, but Grug is at this point even harder to kill than Grog. Grug is pretty much the ultimate expression of the troll: hard to kill, fighting him in a closet really sucks, but with range and clever tactics, it's possible to take him down.

Whew. I'm actually quite pleased with how the Races of War rules handled the troll: they took a difficult monster and, even in builds aiming to maximize synergies, produced something that wasn't wildly out of whack compared to what other characters of similar levels could accomplish.

[Shokatsuryou]

Good stuff so far guys!

I made a couple more characters. Both are kind of "gimmick" characters: an invisible assassin and a grapple demon. The Tome of Fiends is quickly becoming my favorite of the series.

Here's the first character:

Sources Used: PHB, DMG, MM, Tome of Fiends, Tome of Necromancy, Races of War, Dungeonomicon

Tordeth
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, human)
Tiefling True Fiend 1/Assassin 9
Lawful Evil

Abilities (28 point buy)

Strength 8 (base) = 8
Dexterity 14 (base) +2 (race) = 16 (18)
Constitution 10 (base) = 10
Intelligence 16 (base) +2 (race) +2 (levels) = 20 (24)
Wisdom 14 (base) = 12
Charisma 12 (base) - 2 (race) = 10

Stats

Hit Points: 39
Armor Class: 19 (5 armor, 4 Dex)
Initiative: +4
BAB: +7
Grapple: +6
Speed: 30 ft., Fly 60 ft (good)
Fort: +7
Reflex: +11
Will: +7

Attacks

+1 seeking heavy repeating crossbow of distance: +12 ranged (+7 BaB, +1 enhancement, +4 Dex); 1d10+1 plus poison; 19-20/x2; Range Increment 300 ft.
+1 hand crossbow: +12 ranged; 1d4+1 plus poison; 19-20/x2; Range 45 ft.
shuriken: +11 ranged; 1d2-1; x2; Range 15 ft.
masterwork scourge: +7 melee; 1d8-1 plus poison; x2

Skills

+15 Bluff (13 ranks +2 race)
+13 Concentration (13 ranks)
+4 Diplomacy (0 ranks +4 synergy(bluff, sense motive))
+22 Disable Device (13 ranks +7 Int +2 circumstance(tools))
+5 Gather Information (5 ranks)
+24 Hide (13 ranks +4 Dex +2 race +5 cloak)
+15 Listen (13 ranks +2 Wis)
+24 Move Silently (13 ranks +4 Dex +2 race +5 boots)
+20 Search (13 ranks +7 Int)
+8 Sense Motive (6 ranks +2 Wis)
+19 Sleight of Hand (13 ranks +4 Dex +2 synergy(bluff))
+20 Spot (13 ranks +2 Wis +5 eyes)
+13 Use Magic Device (13 ranks)

Feats

Sniper, Expert Tactician, Fiendish Invisibility (light), Wings of Evil (insect wings)

Racial Traits

* Medium Size
* 30' movement
* Outsider Type (Human subtype)
* Darkvision
* +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
* darkness 1/day, caster level 10
* +2 bonus to Bluff, Hide, and Move Silently checks.

* Physical Traits (from fiendish feats)
-Apparently dying of a disease(devil chills)
-Stands unnaturally still when not paying attention

True Fiend

Immortality
Fiendish Traits (Baatezu):
* Immunity to Fire
* See in Darkness (Ex): A Baatezu can see in normal or magical darkness as if it was fully illuminated.

Assassin

-Spellcasting: 3/3+2/3+2/2+2 spells per day, save DC = 17+spell level
-Poison Use
-Personal Immunity (6 poisons)
-Hide in Plain Sight
-Cloak of Discretion: nondetection, caster level 10
-Trapfinding
-Trapmaking: CR 1, Search DC 29, BAB +7
-Palm Weapon(Su): Weapons concealed with Sleight of Hand undetectable via Divination. Hand crossbow and shuriken are usually concealed.
-Full Death Attack +11d6
-Nerve of the Killer: while studying and for 1 additional round, gains protection from evil without deflection bonus
-Improved Uncanny Dodge

Spells Known (6/4/4/3):

0-Level: disrupt undead, ghost sound, detect magic, detect poison, read magic, touch of fatigue
1st Level: color spray, disguise self, silent image, true strike
2nd Level: blindness/deafness, mirror image, see invisibility, tomb tile tessellation
3rd Level: clairvoyance/clairaudience, puppet dance, tasha's tomb transport

Items: +1 seeking heavy repeating crossbow of distance, +1 hand crossbow, shuriken, masterwork scourge, +1 spiderweb clothing, boots of elvenkind, cloak of elvenkind, eyes of the eagle, headband if intellect +4, gloves of dexterity +2, masterwork thieves' tools, alchemists fire flasks, acid vials, poison doses (varies)

Tactics

Tordeth is quite frail and not meant to get into any straight-up fights. He's a pure sniper. In the light, you can't see him 'cuz he's invisible. In the dark, you can't see him 'cuz it's, well, dark. But See in Darkness let's Tordeth see his foes perfectly, from ranges far more distant than any darkvision or even blindsight range. Nevertheless, being extremely paranoid, Tordeth always actively Hides and Moves Silently, especially while on the job. He studies enemies while unseen and then fires away with a full Death attack with his 300 ft. range increment repeating crossbow (which is also seeking, so it ignores concealment). If the 4d10+4 + 44d6 damage and poison fails to kill or disable the target, he probably gets out of there (flying away hopefully unseen) and regroups to try again later (probably with a different poison).

Tordeth uses his spells mostly for utility. The tomb spells (from Tome of Necromancy) let him travel to different parts of the world quickly. A quick color spray or mirror image is used to buy time if caught in melee against someone who can detect him. His tiefling darkness plus his see in darkness ability can act as a poor man's "invisibility" as well. Puppet dance is used as either an alternate way to slay a foe (by forcing the enemy to do something self-destructive) or as a means to wreak havoc on a small group of foes (forcing enemies to fight amongst themselves).

[Shokatsuryou]

Here's my other character. Since I posted a baatezu, it's fitting to make a tanar'ri too.

NOTE: This is my most complicated character, so there may well be mistakes - especially in the attack routines section. Please let me know if you see anything that is incorrect.

Sources Used: PHB, DMG, MM, Tome of Fiends, Races of War, Dungeonomicon

Araju - The Chaos Beast
Huge Outsider (Tanar'ri, Fire, Human)
Aasimar True Fiend 1/Monk 1/Fighter 4/Fiendish Brute 4/Conduit of the Lower Planes 4
Chaotic Evil

Level and Feat Progression

1st (Fighter 1) - Juggernaut (+1 Size for rolls, no AoO to move in opponent square, +4atk/dmg destroy objects and destroy force 30 w/ 30 dmg, overrun/bullrush: Trample 2d8+24 dmg)
3rd (Conduit 2) - Pincers (natural weapons w/ Improved Grab)
5th (Conduit 4) - Wings of Evil* (Fly x2 land speed, Good)
6th (True Fiend 1) - Extra Arms(2 more arms), Large Size*
8th (Brute 2) - Constricting Fiend* (grapple Constrict 4d6+24 dmg)
9th (Brute 3) - Stoning Gaze(Su)(free action, living creatures within 60 ft. Fort DC 22 or turn to stone)
10th (Brute 4) - Huge Size*
12th (Monk 1/Fighter 2) - Elemental Aura (Fire) (4d6 fire dmg to all within 10' every round), Insightful Strike* (Edge if Wis > opponent Dex or Wis, x2 melee crit range, improved melee crit multiplier)
14th (Fighter 4) - Combat School* (Tanar'ri karate - natural weapons of the tanar'ri race: slam, pincer, claw, bite, tail slap, etc.) (+2 melee attack, +2 melee damage, melee attacks Daze Fort DC 33, may take 10 on attack rolls)

*Bonus feat from class level

Note: The order of the levels and feats can be tweaked a little. However, you must get Conduit 1 (Fire Sphere) before you can take Elemental Aura. Also, it is important to get Extra Arms before taking any levels of Fiendish Brute (so your extra arms have natural weapons). True fiend (tanar'ri) and fiendish brute levels should come fairly late so you can meet the chracter level prerequsites of fiendish feats.

Annoyingly, but amusingly, this character spends 2-3 levels without any hands.

Abilities (rolled 4d6)

Strength 16 (base) +3 (levels) +16(size) +4 (brute) = 39 (43)
Dexterity 13 (base) -4 (size) = 9
Constitution 14 base (base) +8 (size) = 22 (24)
Intelligence 14 (base) = 14
Wisdom 16 (base) +2 (race) = 18 (22)
Charisma 16 (base) +2 (race) = 18 (20)

Stats

Hit Points: 169
Armor Class: 41 (10 armor, 6 shield, 5 Wis, 12 natural, -2 Size) Flat 36, Touch 18 (5 armored in life, 5 Wis, -2 size)
Initiative: -1
BAB: +11
Grapple: +39 (11 BaB, 16 Str, 12 Size)
Speed: 30 ft., Fly 60 ft (good)
Fort: +19
Reflex: +18
Will: +18

Attacks

First, his lousy ranged attack:
+1 composite longbow(+16 Str bonus): +9/+4/+4 ranged (11 BaB +1 enhancement -1 Dex -2 size), 3d6+16, x3, Range 170'

Melee Routine #1 (All natural)
2 Pincers: +28 melee (11 BaB, 16 Str, 2 feat, 1 enhancement, -2 size), 2d6*+18, 19-20/x3 each, plus Daze (Fort DC 33) and Improved Grab
and
2 Claws: +23 melee (11 BaB, 16 Str, 2 feat, 1 enhancement, -2 size, -5 secondary attack), 1d8+10, 19-20/x3 each, plus Daze (DC 33)
and
1 Slam: +23 melee (same as above), 2d8+10, 19-20/x3, plus Daze (DC 33)

Melee Routine #2 (secondary weapon)
2 Pincers: +28 melee (11 BaB, 16 Str, 2 feat, 1 enhancement, -2 size), 2d6*+18, 19-20/x3 each, plus Daze (Fort DC 33) and Improved Grab
and
masterwork Huge spiked chain: +21 melee (11 BaB. 16 Str, 1 masterwork, -2 size, -5 secondary attack), 3d6+8, 19-20/x3, inclusive reach 30 ft.
and
1 Slam: +23 melee, 2d8+10, 19-20/x3, plus Daze (DC 33)

I am not sure how iterative attacks work with natural weapons. Here's my guess for:

Melee Routine #3
Masterwork Huge spiked chain: +26/+21/+21 melee (11 BaB. 16 Str, 1 masterwork, -2 size), 3d6+24, 19-20/x3, inclusive reach 30 ft.
and
2 Pincers +23 melee, 2d6*+10, 19-20/x3 each, plus Daze (Fort DC 33) and Improved Grab
and
1 Slam +23 melee, 2d8+10, 19-20/x3, plus Daze (DC 33)

Several other attack configurations are likely possible (including iterative monk slams, etc.).

*Note: Pincer damage above is estimated. I used the natural armor pincer from Lobster armor (1d6 at medium size) and advanced to two damage categories to Huge. It's still less damage that the glabrezu's pincer (one of the few monster examples I could find).

Skills
+15 Bluff (10 ranks +5 Cha)
+24 Concentration (17 ranks +7 Con)
+7 Craft - Armorsmith (5 ranks +2 Int)
+9 Diplomacy (0 ranks +5 Cha +4 synergy(bluff, sense motive))
+24 Intimidate (17 ranks +5 Cha +2 synergy(bluff))
+6 Knowledge - Religion (4 ranks +2 Int)
+25 Listen (17 ranks +6 Wis +2 race)
+15 Sense Motive (9 ranks +6 Wis)
+25 Spot (17 ranks +6 Wis +2 race)
+22 Use Magic Device (17 ranks +5 Cha)

Racial Traits
- Medium Size
- 30' movement.
- Outsider Type (Human subtype)
- Darkvision
- +2 Charisma, +2 Wisdom
- light(Sp) 1/day, caster level 14
- +2 bonus to Spot, and Listen checks.

* Physical Traits (from fiendish feats): Non-functional horns, Sharpened teeth, Alien eyes, Smells of brimstone, A pair of appendages are of different color from the rest of body (pincer arms black), Holy symbols and holy water cause very mild burns, Body is feverishly hot, Breathe steams in any ambient temperature
* Mental Traits (from fiendish spheres): Becomes visibly excited when pain is inflicted on others, Leers at any woman of child-bearing age or older.

Items: +1 demon armor, +1 animated ice aegis, gauntlets of strength +4, periapt of wisdom +4, headband of charisma +2, belt of constitution +2, vest of resistance +2, bracers of mighty fists +1, wand of lesser restoration, +1 composite longbow (+16 Str bonus), cloak of teleportation**, masterwork spiked chain, arrows

**Note: I originally took Greater Teleport as the 5th level feat. However, the 50 lb. weight limit is waaay too restrictive, especially for a Huge creature (equipment weights 5x normal).

Special Abilities (from classes, items, etc.)

teleport: 3/day, caster level 9 (cloak)
Immune to Cold (ice aegis)
All attacks Evil aligned (demon armor)
Can see souls, allowing sight of all living and undead creatures within 120', regardless of current illumination or intervening objects (demon armor)
Every time Araju kill a living creature, he heals 10 hit points (demon armor)

Weapons Training (Ex)
Combat Focus (Ex)
Problem Solver (Ex)
Fighting Style (Fortunate Demon Style) (Su): Slam attacks ignore hardness and DR; style provides any bonuses it gives to Slam attack to any attack made with any weapon
Armored in Life (Su)
Willow Step (Su)
Fatal Strike (Su)

Immortality
Fiendish traits (Tanar'ri): Immume to Electricity
Natural Weapons: 2 claws, one on each (non-pincer) arm
Natural Armor: +7 natural armor (already added in above)
Attribute Boost: +4 Str (already added in above)
Petitioner Immunity(Acheron): Immunity to [Compulsion] effects.
Spheres: Dominion and Fire (see below)
Enhanced Sphere Access: Extra spell-like abilities per day from Spheres (see below)

Spell-Like Abilities (Dominion, Fire)

Special: Once per month, may make one of Dominion effects permanent.
Special: Gains the [Fire] subtype (Immune to Fire, vulnerable to Cold).

8/day - Obscuring Mist, Fireball (DC 16)
7/day - Web, Scorching Ray (DC 17)
6/day - Wall of Fire, Firetrap (DC 18)
5/day - Solid Fog, Wall of Fire (DC 19)
4/day - Black Tentacles, Fireshield (DC 20)
3/day - Programmed Illusion, Incendiary Cloud (DC 21)
2/day - Wall of Force, Blackfire (DC 22)

Tactics

Descended from a marilith, the blood of the tanar'ri awakened strongly in the once mortal Araju. Now only barely recognizable as his original aasimar form from eons past, Araju is now the fearsome chaos beast!

This character originally started out as an experiment to make the ultimate grappler. I branched out a bit from that concept, but Araju is still a terrifying grappling foe.

Araju loves to fight and certainly seeks to mix it up in melee with most foes. But he is no fool, and has survived through the years by using mobility and divide-and-conquer tactics to his advantage. Against multiple foes, he will first use his Dominion sphere abilities to separate and harass the enemy, with spells like web, wall of fire, solid fog, black tentacles, and wall of force used to isolate foes that he can then rip to shreds.

He is not good from range, and seeks to close the distance quickly if possible using flight or even teleportation as necessary. Often, slowing down or stopping enemies with Dominion spells works just as well. If forced to fight from range, he can toss a few fire spells to damage and scatter foes - especially weaker ones. Araju will typically only use his bow in desperation or for amusement.

Once in melee range, the chaos beast earns his name. If attacking with natural attacks, he has 15' natural reach and strikes 5 times per round. The primary attacks deal damage and automatically attempt to start grapples against smaller enemies. Once grappled, the hapless enemy takes constricting and fire damage every round. If the enemy has BaB <11 or Wis and Dex < Araju's Wis, they can't even attack and must spend every round struggling against a +39 grapple check. Araju can choose to use his subsequent natural attacks to continue pummeling the poor fool, too. Each of his natural attacks forces a Fort save DC 33 or the creature is dazed for 1 round. Additionally, any foe within 60' meeting Araju's gaze must save DC 22 or turn to stone.

If necessary or desired, Araju is also adept at all attacks that benefit from size, most notably Trip, Bullrush, and Overrun. The Beast sometimes likes to bullrush (Trampling foes in the process) enemies into battlefield hazards (such as some created by his spell-like abilities, like wall of fire or black tentacles). He can also become a quasi-Trip machine (usually switching to spike chain for more reach).

Araju uses his monk fighting style most of the time, as it's meant to bypass the DR that is common on the Outer Planes. Problem Solver let's him get a Combat feat that might turn the tide, such as Ghost Hunter, Blitz, Blind Fighting, Mage Slayer, or even Giant Slayer.

Further Advancement: A possible path for future levels may include levels of death knight. This is why the character above has some ranks in Knowledge(Religion). Death knight lets him turn into an undead creature, which makes him immune to ability damage, among other things. Some undead have additional natural attacks, which is always good. You also couldn't go wrong with more levels of Fighter or Monk. Knight levels might be interesting as well. Note that BAB is already 3 points behind (stupid fiendish brute!) fighter types (but still ahead of cleric/rogue types), so it is not advisable to take levels of classes without Good BaB unless the benefit is really good.

-Sho

Edit - Made some minor changes. Modified Melee Routine #3 based on Essence's character below. Corrected some typos.

[Essence]

Eifuqurrded,
Hobgoblin Monk 4/Samurai 1/Demon Samurai 4/Conduit of the Lower Planes 3/Fiendish Brute 1

Stats
Str 20 +5
Dex 10 +0
Con 16 +3
Int 9 -1
Wis 18 +4
Cha 14 +2

HP: 103
AC: 10 base +6 Wis +4 Natural+9 Armor 29 (touch 21, flatfooted 23, touch/flatfooted 16)
Atk: Chain/Chain/Chain/Slam/Claw/Claw/Claw/Claw +22/+20/+20/+20/+18/+18/+18/+18
Fort: +11
Ref: +10
Will: +14

Spd: 30 or 60 (see Fighting Styles)
Init: +0
Dmg: Chain 2d4+19+wound+intimidate; Slam 1d8+5+wound+intimidate; Claw 1d6+3+wound+intimidate;.

Skills
Concentration 12 ranks; +15 total
Knowledge (Religion): 4 ranks; +3 total
Intimidate 11 ranks; +13 total
Listen 8 ranks; +12 total

Feats
1 Subtle Cut
3 Blitz
6 Combat School: Kholdan-ryu Kobujitsu (Spiked Chain, Slam)
9 Extra Arms
12 Extra Arms
Multiattack (bonus)
Breath Weapon: Enervation [Fiend] (bonus)


Class Features
Armored in Life +6
Fatal Strike 1d8
Willow Step
Fighting Style: Channel style to all attacks; attacks deal piercing damage and –2 Con
Fighting Style: +30’ insight to move; move w/o AoO and through occupied spaces
Rain of Flowers
Abundant Leap
Diamond Soul (SR 17)
Ancestral Weapon (Spiked Chain +4 ghost touch)
Code of Conduct (Cannot be made to act against Orcus, must sacrifice 15k 1/year)
Mantle of the Dark One (armor becomes Demon Armor)
Face of Evil (Fear at will, sight-based)
Natural Weapon: 4 Claws 1d6
Sphere – Voracity; expert (Heal 5 HP/neg. level or ability dmg inflicted by SLA)
Petitioner Immunities – Hades: Immunity to fear and morale effects
Enhanced Sphere Access
Natural Armor +4
Attribute Boost x1

Stuff
Demon Armor: Attacks are Evil; see souls 120’; heal 10HP for killing a living creature
Ancestral Spiked Chain +4 ghost touch
Other level-appropriate swag

Spell Like Abilities (all at will)
Death Knell, Shadow Spray, Vampiric Touch, Enervation, Magic Jar, Power Leech, Steal Life


Eifuqurrded was a slightly atypical Shoganate citizen who was accepted into a clan late in life, and rapidly fell from the path of righteousness. He allowed himself to become Tainted with demonic foulness, and retreated into the hills, living his life as a guerilla combatant against the Shoganate, feeding off of the life force of any passers-by and generally making himself a horrible nuisance.

Eifuqurrded generally charges directly into melee, giving up his nonexistent Dex to AC for an extra d6 of damage as he moves right through the front rank to the easy-to-kill pussies in the back. The next round, he’ll switch to inflicting mad Con damage on his poor victim, relying on his healing from killing foes (Demon Armor) to keep him alive. If he seems outmatched, he’ll release an Enervation breath (from his Breath Weapon feat plus his expert Voracity sphere) to both heal himself of several HP and severely weaken several of his foes. If things remain out of hand, he’ll start dazing with his Chain and Slam attacks and use his remaining Claw barrage to kill the easiest-to-hit foes first, hoping to Tekken Juggle the badasses as he heals off of the weaklings.

[AlphaNerd]

So, in the vein of Ianuki, I thought it might be fun to look at how a less typical race would work under the rules.

So, starting with a grig, the tiny fey creature, here's what we get:

Tiny, Str -4, Dex +2, DR 5/cold iron, low light vision, SR 17 (+level, I assume), +2 racial to spot, listen, and search. This looks somewhat powerful for +2 LA, so we'll add 3 fey HD and call it +3LA to balance things out (ala option #2). Also, grigs get +8 on jump checks, and +5 to MS in a forest setting.

A typical grig might take levels of a sorcerous class, given the poor physical stats, but Fibull was always too agressive to deal with magic, and preferred a more brutish approach. However, weapons don't work well with his tiny body, nor does armor fit well, so he chose to level as a monk.

So, how does Fibull look at level 6?


Fibull
Grig (3)/Monk 3
CR 6

Stats (28 point buy)
Str 14 (-4 race) 10 = +0
Dex 16 (+2 race, +1 level, +2 item) 21 = +5
Con 14 = +2
Int 10 = +0
Wis 12 = +1
Cha 8 = -1

HP: 3d6 + 3d8 + 6 = 30 (average)
AC: 26 = 10 (base) + 2 (size) + 5 (dex) + 5 (AiL) + 2 (natural) + 1(deflection) + 1(enhancement)
(+4 against larger creatures)
Atk: +11 slam, Grapple: -3
Atk: slam 1d4+1
Init +4

Move: 20 (+30), fly 40 (poor) (+30)

SR: 23 (17+level)
Fort:+6, Ref:+12, Will: +8
(+4 ref against larger things)

Skills: Jump +8, Move Silently +19, Hide +27, Spot +6, Listen +12, Search +2, Tumble +14, Escape Artist +14 (why no size bonus?)

Feats: Weapon Finesse, Giant Slayer, Subtle cut

[What the feats do at this point]
Any time you damage an opponent, that damage is increased by 1. As a standard action, you can make a weapon attack that also reduces a creature's movement rate. For every 5 points of damage this attack does, reduce the creature's movement by 5'. This penalties lasts until the damage is healed. You may use your Dexterity Modifier instead of your Strength modifier for calculating your melee attack bonus. Your special attacks are considered to have the Edge when you attack an opponent with a Dexterity modifier smaller than yours, even if your Base Attack Bonus is not larger. When you perform a "grab on" Grapple maneuver, you do not provoke an attack of opportunity. You gain a +4 Dodge bonus to your AC and Reflex Saves against attacks from any creature with a longer natural reach than your own.




(also considered, whirlwind attack, juggernaut)

Fighting Styles:
*Swooping Lizard Poke: your slam attack to inflict piercing damage and to inflict 2(+1 subtle cut, is this how this works?) points of Constitution damage and provides a +30' Insight Bonus to your movement rate
*Dashing Eagle Slice: causes your slam attack to inflict slashing damage and to reduce your opponent's movement rate by 10' every time, allows you to move through occupied spaces as if they were unoccupied and you provoke no attacks of opportunity for your movement.

Class specials:
Armored in Life, Fatal Strike, Willow Step, Rain of Flowers, Abundant Leap, Fighting Style x2

Spell-like abilities: 3/day - disguise self, entangle (DC 11), invisibility (self only), pyrotechnics (DC 12), ventriloquism (DC 11)


Items:
Ring of Protection +1
Gloves of Agility +2
Bracers of Armor +1
Ring of Hiding +5
1 potions of cure moderate wounds (2d8+3)
5 potions of cure light wounds (1d8+1)
----

Tactics: Fibull hates the big creatures of the world, an endevours to kill them and/or piss them off. Although his attacks don't deal much damage, he generally uses his fighting style to attack the target's constitution.

His high saves and high SR make it pretty hard for things to hurt him with magic, so he's really only afraid of weapons, but he's pretty good at dodging those too. He normally waits up in a tree then attacks from the air. He'll attack then pull back, harassing a party until they're really pissed off. He's willing to wait a party out, and isn't defeated until he's convinced that he'll die trying to kill the party. If the party spends time casting buffs, he's more than happy to wait until those buffs run out to attack again, waiting in the trees.

Fibull does not have a fiddle. This is a sore point with him.

Edit: Fixed and named styles; thanks, Shokatsuryou. Wrote down what the feats actually do...

[Shokatsuryou]

Looks pretty good to me. You were right; a spellcaster might be more powerful for a Tiny creature, but Monk fits well as a martial class. It is definitely a good idea to see how very small and very large creatures might work under the rules for non-typical races.

Fighting Styles:
*your slam attack to inflict piercing damage and to inflict 2(+1 subtle cut, is this how this works?) points of Constitution damage
*provides a +30' Insight Bonus to your movement rate

Emphasis mine. This is a good question. I asked a similar question in the Races of War thread, but did not receive an answer yet.

Also, You character should have two fighting styles at level 3. (Remember, you get two abilities for each style.)

-Sho

[Iaimeki]

1159453968[/unixtime]]So, in the vein of Ianuki, I thought it might be fun to look at how a less typical race would work under the rules.

So, starting with a grig, the tiny fey creature, here's what we get:

Tiny, Str -4, Dex +2, DR 5/cold iron, low light vision, SR 17 (+level, I assume), +2 racial to spot, listen, and search. This looks somewhat powerful for +2 LA, so we'll add 3 fey HD and call it +3LA to balance things out (ala option #2). Also, grigs get +8 on jump checks, and +5 to MS in a forest setting.

Frank and K note in RoW of war that sprites are "unplayable." I mostly agree with them (the nixie, I think, could work).

Technically, according to a literal use of the RoW conversion rules, a grig starts as a 2nd-level PC with the following stats:

• -4 Strength, +2 Dexterity.
  
• Fey Type.
  
• Tiny size.
  
• Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
  
• 20' movement, 40' fly (poor).
  
• Low-light vision.
  
• +8 racial bonus on Jump checks, +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks, +5 racial bonus on Move Silently checks in forested areas.
  
• Dodge and Weapon Finesse as racial bonus feats.
  
• +2 natural armor.
  
• Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—disguise self, entangle (DC 13), invisibility (self only), pyrotechnics (DC 14), ventriloquism (DC 13).
  
• Damage reduction 5/cold iron.
  
• Spell resistance equal to 17 + class levels.
  
• Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Elven, Gnome, Halfling.
  
• Favored Classes: Rogue and Sorcerer.
  
• 2 Starting Hit Dice (2d6; 6 + Int modifier × 5 skill points; +0 Fort, +3 Reflex, +3 Will; +1 BAB).

This is fairly obviously too strong as a PC. Generally, PCs don't get flight before 3rd level or so (it's "supposed" to be 5th level, but there are several ways to break that). Even very weak flight, like the grig's, opens kiting possibilities. The grig's spell-like abilities are amazing (entangle is an incredible battlefield control spell at low levels, and invisibility's uses are many even later on, while it can pretty much dominate at 2nd level). +2 natural armor, ridiculous spell resistance, and DR 5/cold iron just seal the point. A grig, under this, has spell-likes and inherent abilities you can get from spells not much worse than the spells of a 3rd- or 4th-level caster, skills as good as a 2nd-level ranger or bard, and defenses no PC should get. Tiny size is a serious disadvantage under certain circumstances, but it generally works out to a wash because it's an amazing advantage under others. The stat mods aren't really a penalty either.

This analysis actually goes further to convince me that grigs are underCRed than anything else. Maybe WotC thinks it's balanced since they believe every 1st-level arcane caster should have magic missile at the ready, which has a three-fourths chance of killing a grig outright (provided the caster knows to target it), but it seems to me a well-played grig could use confusion and distraction strategies to paralyze most 1st-level parties, then finish them off with weak ranged attacks at its leisure.

As an optimization note, you need a way to prevent AoOs when you attack in melee: a Tiny creature has 0' reach, which means it need to enter an opponent's space to attack and thus provokes each time it does so. Total concealment can do it, as can cover, but I don't think you can get either of those easily. The best way in RoW is probably Juggernaut, as silly as it sounds.

[AlphaNerd]

A couple things to note.

Yes, Frank said Sprites were unplayable, but it seemed like it could be made to work.

1) MM has SR:Yes, so it's not clear that a MM should work.
2) Grigs always appear in groups, so they're collectively at least EL 3 (with 2 of them).
3) A grig has those sort of abilities that do better as a PC, as opposed to in a single encounter type.
4) Grigs can't really deal damage, 1 damage/shot at +6. This isn't necessarily true of a PC. This is probably why they are under-CRed.
5) WotC suggests a LA of +3, making a 2HP grig available at level 4 -- I made one starting at 3 with 3HD.
6) Rule #2 suggests that you should set the HD to be in line with the HP granted to fix giants and undead. It seems to make sense that giving 2HD rather than 1/2 should increase the CR, even if you decrease them to d4s.
7) Ah, I missed the bonus feats.
8) Each band of grigs is supposed to have a fiddler.

You're probably right -- grigs are under CRed.

Of course, I never meant for this grig to be a protagonist, and the benefits start to lessen as you get to 6th level. Maybe grigs should be CR 2 or 3?

There is advancement for grigs up to 3 HD and tiny, which I used. Maybe he should be 4HD fey + 3 HD monk?

Joshua